Practical support for identifying and meeting need

Social, emotional and mental health (SEMH)

Understanding SEMH needs Identifying children & young people with SEMH Supporting children & young people with SEMH Practical ideas & resources Whole school & setting approaches Graduated response to supporting SEMH

Whole school and setting approaches

Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools Guidance (DfE, November 2018) describes that the role in supporting and promoting mental health and wellbeing can be summarised as:

Creating a safe and calm environment where mental health problems are less likely, improving the mental health and wellbeing of the whole school population, and equipping pupils to be resilient so that they can manage the normal stress of life effectively.

This will include teaching pupils about mental wellbeing through the curriculum and reinforcing this teaching through school activities and ethos.

Recognising emerging issues as early and accurately as possible.

Helping pupils to access evidence based early support and interventions.

Working effectively with external agencies to provide swift access or referrals to specialist support and treatment.

Public Health England’s guidance Promoting Children and Young People’s Emotional Health and Wellbeing > (links to PDF, updated February 2021) details a whole school and college approach building on eight key principles:

  1. Leadership and management that supports and champions efforts to promote emotional health and wellbeing
  2. School ethos and environment that promotes respect and values diversity
  3. Curriculum, teaching and learning to promote resilience and support social and emotional learning
  4. Enabling student voice to influence decisions
  5. Staff development to support their own wellbeing and that of students
  6. Identifying need and monitoring impact of interventions
  7. Working with parents/carers
  8. Targeted support and appropriate referral

Babcock LDP > support inclusion and engagement of children at risk of exclusion, and provide guidance on relational learning.

Nurture UK > highlights the importance of social environments and relationships.

Trauma-informed, relational and restorative approaches can also enhance mental health and wellbeing:

Beacon House > provide free resources to support the repair of trauma and adversity.

Trauma Informed Positive Behaviour Support > offer free subscription to a trauma-informed toolkit which provides a variety of strategies to employ with children.

Trauma Informed Schools UK > provide trauma informed and mentally healthy training for education and a range of organisations.

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